Chocolate Caramel Bars

These Chocolate Caramel Bars are DANGEROUSLY delicious. A layer of chocolate and caramel is nestled between sweet and crisp oats. A must try!

These Chocolate Caramel Bars are one of the first recipes I ever posted.

I’m often asked why I started a food blog and my answer is always the same: “I was bored”. We’d just moved to a new house in a new town in a new state, it was the middle of winter and I had two very young daughters who were the focus of my life (and, happily, still are). I needed an outlet and something that was mine alone. I never dreamed it could and would become my career! I was simply having a good time creating recipes like these Chocolate Caramel Bars and posting them for friends and family.

What’s especially fun is to have a look back to see how much I’ve learned and grown since these Chocolate Caramel Bars were first posted on Feb 25, 2009! Here’s the photo I posted almost seven years ago:

Small, terrible composition, dark AND a very bluish tint. I can’t even tell what it is! Yet I was doing what I loved and didn’t know any better. And starting from the bottom and learning so much over the past seven years has been an incredibly fun journey.

And now I’m updating the post in the hopes that people will actually get to see these Chocolate Caramel Bars and even give them a try. They’re super delicious and don’t take much time at all to make. They’re sweet but they have a slightly salty finish that balances the flavor. My favorite part is the outside where it’s a little more crisp but the gooey center is a treat all on its own! They freeze well, too, so I’ll keep a few tucked away for times when I have a craving.

Place butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer. Mix until smooth and creamy. Add 2 cups of flour, the baking soda and salt and mix well. Mix in oats until just combined.

Press half the mixture in the bottom of a well-greased 11x7 pan (or 9x13). Spraying one hand with cooking spray makes this less sticky!

Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Mix the last 3 T. of flour with the caramel sauce until thoroughly combined (microwave your sauce to make it easily mixable if you need to). Pour caramel mixture over the chocolate chips. "Sprinkle" the remaining crust over the top, trying to cover as much as possible. Bake another 20-25 minutes or until the top is lightly browned and cooked through.

Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into bars and serve.

About Kristy Bernardo

On paper, I'm a chef, recipe developer and food & travel writer. In real life, I'm constantly obsessing over my love of food and new recipes and am on a lifelong quest for the perfect cocktail. I love good friends, margaritas and my beautiful daughters above all else (with blog readers coming in at a close second). I believe that hard work and grit always pay off and that a positive attitude will take you everywhere.

Comments

Caramel is my all time favorite flavor - don't care what you make of it, I'm there. This sounds just too delicious. I'm trying to keep my baking of treats down to a bare minimum for holidays but this might just put me over the edge!
suZen

Wow, kind of like a seriously decadent version of granola bars. I'm going to have to try to make these over the weekend. I'll need something to abate the drooling in anticipation of the cinnamon bread puddings.

Allie - I've never made them with regular oats so I'm not sure. My gut tells me it would be fine, though, so I say go for it! I'll tell you what...if you make them and they don't turn out, I'll personally make you a batch and send you a care package! :)

Well, I ended up having to go to the store to pick up a perscription for my daughter's ear infection so I went ahead and bought the quick oats. I made these yesterday and they are so yummy. I had to cut them up and put them in the freezer so that I would stop eating them :) Thanks for sharing the recipe. Oh and just an fyi, the ingredients call for 2 C. flour but in the directions you wrote to add in 3 C. flour.

These look so tempting, Kristy! I might make them as a treat for the kids as a treat after the conference track meet this weekend if I can get motivated enough to bake! I'd be mom of the day...lol. They look so good and I love oatmeal with chocolate. (I'll be saving some for me too!)

Hi, I’m Kristy. Thanks for stopping by!

On paper, I'm a chef, recipe developer and food & travel writer. In real life, I'm constantly obsessing over my love of food and new recipes and am on a lifelong quest for the perfect cocktail. I love good friends, margaritas and my beautiful daughters above all else (with blog readers coming in at a close second). I believe that hard work and grit always pay off and that a positive attitude will take you everywhere.